Same reason my friend's Honeywell Wi-Fi thermostat "needed" a cloud server. Because Honeywell WANTS it that way.
Since the thing's totally unencrypted, I found I could send simple JSON commands directly to it. No "server" needed.
When I wanted a remote garage door so I could just ride up on my motorcycle, I couldn't find "any kind of remote Wifi/GSM-activated thing" so I have a Raspberry Pi that my phone talks to over the cell connection when the GPS says I'm near home. I made damned sure to make it TLS-encrypted though, so no-one can snoop my fairly simple protocol, and my phone presents the certificate for authorization.
Biting the hand that feeds IT
